Do you believe downsizing the military will be the cause of America's fall?

Ryan Pecht — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:33:33 -0500

Thanks for the huge number of responses! i have learned somethings about the militarys past that i probs would have never learned had i not posted this! Thank you all for your service and for teaching me more of the greatest militarys history.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jan 5 at 2016 12:38 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:38:31 -0500

I do not believe that downsizing the military will cause america to fall Ryan Pecht
We downsized the military after WWI and dramatically reduced the size of the military after WWII. While our rapid downsizing after WWII made it difficult to respond quickly to the Korean War [Task Force Smith] we were able to mount an offense which was held back for primary diplomatic reasons rather than military ones. We experienced similar issues in the Vietnam War and in Desert Storm.
I enlisted during the Vietnam RIF period. I was forced out during the post Desert Storm RIF and moved from the RA to the USAR.
I saw a lot of turmoil with the previous RIFs which caused short to mid-term problems including initiating stop loss later in specialties that had been drawn down only to be required a few years later.
Up until now, the resiliency of the American fighting man and more recently woman has bode us well in times of conflict. thankfully our wars have been away from this continent since the early 1900's. I hope that trend will continue - both our resilience and intrepid national spirit and wars fought away from our shores.

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Jan 5 at 2016 12:51 PM

MCPO Roger Collins — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:51:09 -0500

Downsizing has occurred on many occasions and the issue was and is when the balloon goes up and large numbers of military are required. Our citizens come to the aid of our country and get slaughtered until the come up to speed being a true warrior. "We fight the war with what we have", remember that?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2016 12:56 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:56:19 -0500

No, it will not cause us to fall. It may effect our ability to have the global reach we have now but not our ability to defend our homeland. Short of nuclear weapon usage, which could happen without the downsizing, someone would still have to take us on in defense of our homes.. and I don't think anyone likes their chances. If America falls, based on my limited knowledge, it will be nuclear or economical.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Jan 5 at 2016 12:59 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:59:47 -0500

No. Failing to fix our education system will be. A strong military only goes so far if it's manned by a nation of dullards... Education, innovation and imagination are the currency of success...

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jan 5 at 2016 1:13 PM

Capt Seid Waddell — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 13:13:42 -0500

Clearly.

Response by SGT Andrew Chapman made Jan 5 at 2016 1:29 PM

SGT Andrew Chapman — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 13:29:36 -0500

The American people will need to band together

Response by SFC Thomas Howes made Jan 5 at 2016 1:53 PM

SFC Thomas Howes — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 13:53:51 -0500

I am with SSG Hasbun on this are education system here in the US is bad I see we teach to pass a state mandated test now a days

Response by SPC(P) Doug Moxley made Jan 5 at 2016 2:29 PM

SPC(P) Doug Moxley — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 14:29:31 -0500

Negative. A smaller, smarter force is more effective. Didn't you ever watch Planet of the Apes? ☺

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2016 2:57 PM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 14:57:29 -0500

nothing will ... American will be still wonder around like zombies if the worse happen ... one way or the other. :)

Response by COL Ted Mc made Jan 5 at 2016 3:07 PM

COL Ted Mc — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:07:14 -0500

Ryan Pecht Mr. Pecht; I suspect that hubris" and/or "self-delusion" will do the trick faster and more surely than anything else.

What you have to remember is that there are only two countries in the world with the logistical capacity to maintain an invasion of the United States of America. Would you like to take a guess at which two countries those are?

Very few are concerned about the actual EXISTENCE of the US, many more are concerned about the actual ACTIONS of the US (whether or not those concerns are justified I leave for you to determine).

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2016 3:57 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:57:21 -0500

It's just time to clean house

Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Jan 5 at 2016 7:44 PM

Capt Mark Strobl — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 19:44:13 -0500

Military down-sizing is just about on a 20-yr cycle. This trend hasn't impacted us thus far.

Response by PO3 Sherry Thornburg made Jan 6 at 2016 1:19 AM

PO3 Sherry Thornburg — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 01:19:10 -0500

I think any thing said would be opinion based. Our government has a habit of downsize and then build up in cycles depending on what's going on in the world, usually the build up is in response to getting caught with too few in uniform to keep up with demands. One day that habit is going to bite us a lot harder than it has in the past.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Jan 6 at 2016 9:03 AM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 09:03:50 -0500

As China and Korea are VAMPING up, Russia doing what they are and Iran doing there crap, it doesn't make any freaking sense to down size!

Response by Sgt Brian Benway made Jan 6 at 2016 2:20 PM

Sgt Brian Benway — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 14:20:44 -0500

I wouldn't go as far as saying it would cause America's downfall. But the impact it's had, and will continue to have is quite noticable. Still though, less than a year, we'll a president that supports the Military (knock on wood, please no Clinton). America will be on the rise again.

Response by CPO Donald Crisp made Jan 10 at 2016 2:02 PM

CPO Donald Crisp — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 14:02:31 -0500

We all know that there are down times for the military, it's call PEACE TIME. Unfortunately, there are so many in this world ready to hammer any weaker or perceived weaker nation. Been happening since biblical days. The problem with downsizing our military is that it will tilt the odds toward anyone who wants to move in. We don't need to have a 15 million military force, but we do need to remain prepared with readily available and well training soldiers, sailors and airmen to deter any threat to this nation or it's allies. As I've read before, downsizing may not cause the downfall of our nation, but it will certainly make it easier for another nation(s) to try to overthrow.

Response by CSM Chris McKeown made Jan 10 at 2016 10:26 PM

CSM Chris McKeown — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 22:26:33 -0500

This is a MAYBE answer. Depends on who attacks us and when. If China attacked us here in the Homeland after all the draw-downs take effect there is a chance we could fall.